For at least the past several hundred years, catheters have been irrigated by a procedure in which a quantity of irrigating solution is withdrawn from a supply of that solution, usually with a piston type syringe and usually in an amount ranging from perhaps less than 45 cc to as much as 75 cc followed by application of the solution to the catheter. A typical irrigation dosage is approximately 60 cc. Normal procedure involves taking a sterilized catheter tip syringe, filling the syringe from a supply bottle which may or may not be sterile since it cannot be protected once it has been opened, and using the filled syringe to irrigate the catheter.
In the traditional method of performing an irrigation procedure, a separate bottle of irrigation solution is used to pour a quantity of the fluid into a plastic graduate cylinder. Then the syringe is used to withdraw the irrigation solution from the graduate, to be used as described to irrigate the catheter.
While this procedure has been employed for a very long period of time, it is not without problems. Specifically, there is a small but real percentage of incident where there has been cross contamination due to the re-use of equipment. Particularly when there are multiple uses from the same bottle of irrigation solution, cross contamination can occur. Hepatitis is relatively easily transmitted because it is possible that the virus could somehow contaminate the solution, due to the contact with the patient by the catheter. AIDS, of course, is a concern, although the disease is not presently considered to be nearly as contagious as hepatitis under these particular treatment circumstances.
It is not often that a medical procedure changes after long periods of continued use. Nevertheless, it would be extremely useful if a device could be provided which would be suitable for irrigation procedures for catheters and which would avoid possible contamination of irrigation solutions. An object of this invention is to provide a device which would permit a quick, efficient, and totally safe catheter irrigation procedure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a unitary system which can be pre-sterilized and stored in a simple container in a ready to use condition so that effective treatment can be applied as needed and when needed. Often times Doctors are present during this procedure and a quick, easy to use self-contained device would save considerable time and expense.